The mayor also on Tuesday "first and foremost'' expressed concerns for the Great Lakes Airlines employees who have been made jobless by the air carrier going out of business. While she didn't know the exact number of people who may have lost their jobs, she pledged her office's cooperation with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services to help former Great Lakes employees find jobs.

The mayor made the comments following the news that Great Lakes, the only commercial air carrier serving Cheyenne, had stopped turboprop commercial flight operations at midnight on Monday.

While the company website said on Tuesday that ''Great Lakes Jet Express" would continue operating, the airline's turboprop service, which had served Cheyenne and other communities, has stopped operating, leaving Wyoming's capital city without air service.

The mayor on Tuesday said Great Lakes had scaled back it's service to Cheyenne to one flight a week recently.

She also said discussions are underway ''with a couple of different carriers" with hopes of getting air service restored ''roughly around November." The mayor also said the Cheyenne passenger terminal project will continue to move forward, despite the collapse of Great Lakes.

Mayor Orr noted local voters had approved sixth-penny sales tax money to help pay for the terminal and other improvements at the airport, adding it ''was not a 'build it and they will come'" situation, but rather was approved out of necessity. She says even if another air carrier doesn't resume service to Cheyenne, the terminal project is important for air freight flights into Cheyenne and for serving flights that may be diverted from Denver to Cheyenne.

The mayor also said the project looks like it will be finished by about November, or around the same time officials hope to have another carrier being serving the airport.